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lttawnymadison · 7 days

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TGCF Revised Version Afterword by MXTX

Since I kept seeing snippets of this, I wanted to read the whole thing for myself. I'd already bought the book on JJWXC and did an MTL for this. It's so wonderful that she's back and sharing new things and that the revised is finally done! - Tawny --------------------------------------------- The author has something to say:

Seeing the small red clay stove again.

———— Afterword of "Heaven Official's Blessing" 2022

■ Finally done!

Long time no see! It's another afterword starting with "finally." Without further ado, seasoned readers would know that I make substantial revisions. For instance, scenes like the Bai Feng Mountain Hunt and the ending recognition of Sizhui in the serial version of "Mo Dao Zu Shi" were not originally there.

The revisions in "Heaven Official's Blessing" are the most extensive of all my works. It was a huge project, as it is also the longest in terms of length, serialized over eight months. Due to poor health and other reasons, the revision process was interrupted for a long time before I picked it up again, and it sporadically took about five to six months over several years.

In the era of web novels, there are endless new entertainments, and honestly, not many people re-read a story. Plus, some problems in the serialized version are structural and can't be changed, but I still tried my best to address my regrets. After all, when I was serializing it, I was almost always in a feverish and sick state, barely pushing through. Additionally, I often enjoy comparing different versions of my favorite authors' works back and forth, finding pleasure in the process. So, for readers, discovering "Wow, this part has changed!" is like starting a new journey with Easter eggs in a second round.

■ The new revised version includes about 100,000 words of new content!

These 100k words are mainly concentrated in the latter half of Volume 1 and Volume 3, but there are plenty scattered throughout the text. For example, I fulfilled a promise to A-Hua, giving him several new outfits. Seeing A-Hua dressed beautifully in a new hairstyle to meet his gege made me happy.

In terms of the intensity of revisions, personally, I feel it goes like this:

Volume 1 and Volume 2 > Volume 3 > Volume 5 > Volume 4.

Additionally, the new version cuts some redundant words and plots that weren't very meaningful. However, I tried to keep all the original interactions between Hua Lian as complete as possible. If some minor interactions are missing, they weren't deleted but moved around.

■ One day, I suddenly dug out something.

An antique from 2017, a folder called "Heaven Official's Blessing Setting Collection."

Curiously, I opened it and read with interest.

● Comparing the original setting outline and the main text, the highest fidelity is in the main storyline between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian.

A-Hua, restored at a ratio of 1:100.

Hua's character setting is the most detailed, and virtually every point made it into the main text, including details like "ghosts don't like the sun, so Hua Cheng sometimes drapes a red cloth over his head"...

Points not used, listed a few:

As a child:

· After being saved from falling off a city wall, he foolishly followed a parade over and over again, grabbing people to ask, "Who is that? Who is that person?" People told him, "That's the royal son, the future Celestial God, the most outstanding Crown Prince of Xianle Nation ever!"

(This point couldn't be used because in the text A-Hua was held in the Crown Prince's arms after being saved)

· At home, he was often punished to stand or kneel, not given food, and wore old clothes, accused of stealing money. Whenever he argued with his family, he would stubbornly sleep in the Prince's temple overnight.

· Went to Mount Tai Cang to volunteer sweeping red leaves at Huangji Observatory, just to sneak peeks at his future wife happily swinging.

After becoming the ghost king:

· One of his hobbies is buying and building houses everywhere.

· Very protective of his leather boots, would (badly) polish them until they shone.

· To other devout followers of Xie Lian, he said: "You have good taste."

· Secretly prepared many betrothal gifts for his beloved god, wanting to marry him!

The character setting of Xie Lian as a teacher in the serialized version compared to the initial draft, the serialized text subtly differs. The initial draft was more... exquisite and elegant, very serious. The serialized text is more... humorous. I think perhaps because some plot points were tragic, Xie Lian thought he should be happier to make the readers more relaxed, so he drove me to adjust his mental state! But due to the spiritual oppression at that time, the character's depth was not enough, while in the new revised version, I hope he can show a more self-content state on the same core basis.

Excerpts from the unused original setting:

· Super easy-going. Easy-going means: if given fifty bucks, he would happily dress in drag and dance. Accepts haggling. Thirty bucks works. Twenty bucks too!

· The observatory is small, the house is broken, wants to grow flowers. Leaks during rain, so he uses a bucket to catch rainwater.

· Because he can't afford a caretaker, he cleans himself, and also feeds chickens. Chickens eat flowers. Keeps a cat.

· Completely engrossed in discussing serious matters, he unknowingly finished all the broken sweet dumplings!

● Water, Earth, Wind original setting:

The highest fidelity is the main line between Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, followed by the Water, Earth, Wind subplot.

The main conflict hasn't changed. Just... how could the original setting of Water, Earth, Wind be so dark and terrifying!

The character morals in the main text improved a lot, otherwise, the original Black Water would be sheer scheming + murderous! The ending for the Wind Master would have been more tragic.

The Venerable of Empty Words suddenly became an improvised character. It seemed like an ancient fable-like monster, making the main text more interesting than the original setting.

Overall, the formal version is a bit better written than the original draft.

● The unfortunate life of Lang Ying:

Lang Ying? Is there such a character? I don't remember!

Ah? It seems there was such a person, but I don't remember any of his plotlines.

This is most people's feeling towards the character of Lang Ying. It's not a delusion because he barely had any significant plot. In fact, any valuable scenes could have been replaced equivalently, so in the new revised version, I deleted this character.

But, in the 2017 setting collection, I suddenly found that I had actually opened a separate document for Lang Ying, and his role was defined as a "growing-type BOSS!"

I was silent.

And immediately opened the document, curious about my initial setting. A "growing-type BOSS," how did he become someone whose deletion went unnoticed...? (I even don't know how to address him!)

Who knows, perhaps out of excitement, I accidentally pressed the wrong shortcut, and somehow it became irreversible, leaving only an empty document for me to stare in disbelief. The once "growing-type BOSS" has now forever become a mystery!

This is the unfortunate life of the deleted Lang Ying.

· There was another document in the setting collection called "Swordsmith." I opened the document and read it with interest.

I was shocked. Because I completely forgot I had conceived this story. Why didn't I write it?!

Darn.

I know why I didn't write it. This story... it had no ending!

——————— Thus, the magical glimpse into the "Heaven Official's Blessing Setting Collection" concludes!

■ I like men with stories!

Maybe because I watched an outstanding work as a child. It was a memoir, the protagonist in the biography was gentle and affable, and the protagonist in the memories was cold and ruthless. The story was scattered with the poignant fragrance of white plum blossoms amidst bloody and stormy circumstances.

This almost perfect work deeply influenced my aesthetics, leading me to be most interested in the memory parts of characters in various works. Although many viewers prefer the present scenes, often asking when the memories will end, I actually find these intense and painful memories to be the most fascinating!

A story is the history of a character, as well as the key to their personality. A person with a story stands before me like a puzzle. The way to solve this puzzle is to understand their story. Because the biography makes one curious to know more about a character they like, loving them more now because of their past. When serializing "Heaven Official," my greatest pain initially was telling myself, "This time I don't want to write a memory slaughter," deliberately trying to avoid a structure similar to previous works, yet I still hadn't found a better way to express it, resulting in my deep dissatisfaction with the later part of Volume 1. I was also hesitant to fully commit to the memory scenes in Volume 2, and with the heavy mental burden, this part was very painful to write. When revising, looking at Volume 2 was almost unbearable, because I'm the type of person who, as a child, would immediately switch channels when a TV show's protagonist was about to be wrongfully accused or embarrassed. I couldn't help but knock on a friend's door and ask:

Me: Was the author suffering some kind of mental trauma at the time? This negative energy is too horrifying, the protagonist is so pitiful, I really admire anyone who could read through Volume 2 completely.

Friend: Do you even have the right to say that?

But the memory slaughter in Volume 4 was much freer, written in one breath, so the revisions for this volume were also the least.

So, will you still write large segments of memory slaughter?

Um, well, we'll see, haha, hehe...

■ Closing Remarks:

Lastly, I'll address the question some asked me, "Will the new revised 'Heaven Official's Blessing' be more torturous?"

Me: You're talking nonsense. 'Heaven Official's Blessing' is a sweet pampering story, thank you!

Acknowledgments:

Shi Nai'an wrote in the preface to "Water Margin": "On snowy nights, about five or six people listen to my storytelling; on rainy days, about seven or eight; on bright and sunny days, about ten. I read, everyone listens, and we are all happy, with no other thoughts." When I read this as a young person, I was delighted. What divine days! Writing first to entertain oneself, then to entertain others. Self-expression and self-acceptance are certainly primary, but the affection of others is also a significant positive feedback. Thus, first, I thank the steadfast readers who have accompanied me all this time. I've thought about just walking away amidst the noisy disputes; abandoning the account amidst the tumultuous world! It seems not bad. But looking back, I can't bear to leave some truly sincere readers.

I've had authors I liked disappear from the internet, and I always feel like a part of my youth has vanished, a feeling quite distressing, reminiscent of overly grand and harsh things like the tears of the era or the torrent of history. So, I want to accompany my readers as long as possible, hoping that the day of parting comes later. Perhaps I'm not good enough now, but I will strive to be better in the future. Or perhaps you've never truly understood what kind of person I am, or even completely misunderstood me, but as long as you genuinely like my stories, we can sit down and chat.

And, I must mention my friends, who can be described as having the courage of a hero. Long time no see, Teacher Changyang's illustrations are still as beautiful as those of a celestial being, I hope Teacher CAS can go to bed earlier and worry less, and Teacher Kuohao, who despite a heavy workload, still fully honored our agreement. The "Heaven Official's Blessing" radio drama is really fantastic! It reminded me of the original intention of writing this story, and I was very moved. If it weren't for the silent companionship and efforts of these old friends, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu might have stopped writing back in 2016, disappearing from the world of martial arts, and thus, "Heaven Official's Blessing" would not have been born. I look forward to retracing the paths we once walked together when gathering ideas. And many friends who reached out to help and encourage me, thank you for accompanying me through the snowy nights.

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hob #heaven official's blessing #墨香铜臭 #mxtx #mo xiang tong xiu #天官赐福 #tgcf revised version #mine

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gffa · 7 months

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LET ME TELL YOU WHY JASON TODD IS SO INTERESTING TO ME, because I think this is perfectly in line with his characterization in other places in this storyline (where he's angry at Bruce for feeling like he gets to set all the rules, that he gets to decide what Gotham "needs" as if Bruce was the only one who grew up in Gotham, that Bruce is trying to save him but Jason doesn't want Bruce to save him, where Bruce calls him family and Jason says that's looking at the past through rosy glasses) because Jason's relationship with Bruce is so thorny. He's practically hero worshipping Bruce in these scenes, he's practically putting him up on a pedestal, even when he's angry about it. He tries to pass it off as being realistic about Batman's skills--and he's not wrong, Batman would wipe the floor with these guys, would probably still wipe the floor with Jason if he was being serious about it--but it's more than that, it comes off as that there's a part of Jason who never let go of Batman as this larger than life hero in his eyes, the guy who was impossible to beat, the guy who would always be there, the guy who was his father figure. Despite that in that previous issue we watched as Dick just slid right under Bruce's defenses and clocked him right in the face, in that issue we saw Jason hurl himself at Batman and fought him tooth and nail. He's all over the map when it comes to Bruce, he says one thing in one scene and the opposite in another and I think that really, really works for me because I think that's what Jason's relationship with Bruce is, in his heart.

These panels and this page go hand in hand for me, because this is a summation of Jason's relationship with Bruce: I love you, I hate you, I want you to love me, I can't stand when you love me, I want you to fight for me, I'll spit in your face when you try to fight for me, I will verbally tear down everything you're trying to build in Gotham by saying you don't get to claim me or Gotham, I will tell everyone else trying to horn in on the crime-fighting in Gotham that they'll never be as good as you, I will say I have more in common with Selina than I do with you, but I will never truly join her and I stick to the ideals you taught me more than anything, I will fight you like I don't think you're all that scary, I will tell everyone else that you're undefeatable, I will insult you to your face, I will idealize you in my head, I will love you, I will hate you, I will try to walk away from you, I will define myself by you. Jason's in a war within himself over his feelings towards Bruce and he can't let go of either direction, he can't stop loving him, he can't stop hating him, and it just goes around and around in a circle, no matter how hard he tries to pick one or the other, both are still there, and he's desperately trying to get a reaction from Bruce, from other people, because he's caught in the middle of his own feelings. Jason has his own beliefs, but he'll say or do whatever he thinks will get a reaction that he can work with, one he thinks will help him leverage a situation (even if that just means starting a fight so he doesn't have to confront his own desire to come home in the way he used to be there), and it's all an extension of how he can't solve the problem of Bruce Wayne in his own heart and head, no matter how many times Bruce and the others say they love him, he's family, they want him around. AND THAT IS SO TASTY TO ME, I LOVE IT WHEN A BATBOY IS A REAL HOT MESS.

#lumi.txt #dc #batfam #jason todd #bruce wayne #gotham war #batman/catwoman: gotham war: red hood #tuesday spoilers

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aangarchy · 2 months

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Netflix atla live action review ep 7-8

Home stretch baby. I figured since i love the source material i should just be able to enjoy it, or at least be entertained by it somewhat. But even that was just not possible. I pirated it after the first three episodes just bc i didn't want to give netflix the satisfaction of a view.

It's not so much the acting, the costumes or even the bad/mediocre cgi, it's the writing. It's an absolute shitshow, a mess of the highest caliber. For someone who claims to love the source material, it really seems like Albert Kim didn't understand why a lot of the things in the original worked the way they did. Things that are important for character growth got removed, and lore that we normally don't see til later on in the show (or even in a completely different story within this universe!!) got crammed in. For no good reason too bc it doesn't really add anything, just gives us another obstacle or useless exposition that's supposed to explain another useless thing they added.

Both of the last episodes take place in the north pole. This makes sense somewhat because in the original all three of the last episodes took place there. The reason they did this in the original is to have room for all of the stories that still need to take place (pakku, zuko, spirit world, koh, waterbending training, sokka and yue etc.) However in this version, even though minutes wise we have more time, we have less story. Like way less. Also episode 7 proportionally is much shorter than 8 and it really gives issues with pacing.

Let's start with what annoyed me most. Where is the waterbending training? Where is it? The season's title is Water and Aang bent ZERO water this entire season unless he was in the avatar state. Katara "trains" yes, but it's mostly practicing moves she found on the scroll (which gran gran just gave to her? Why didn't this woman give it to her sooner???). She gets NO guidance from anyone, and the way she gets better at bending each time is because a BOY told her encouraging things. A BOY. In the OG we get Pakku saying "raw talent alone is not enough", which makes sense because bending in this universe is an extension of martial arts, and you have to train to become good at martial arts. This LA show however treated bending like a magic power, basically giving some mumbo jumbo about balance and a clear head and think of the people you love to become a better bender. And while yes, your mental headspace also is important (as highlighted in the original where zuko couldn't bend anymore bc he had no aggression left) it wasn't the only factor, it wasn't even the main factor.

When we arrive at the North Pole, Pakku and the chief of the North both expect Aang to help with battle strategy in order to stop the attack bc they're already aware it's coming. Aang tells them he doesn't really know how (wtf were they even expecting it mean that is a whole 12yr old) and they turn away going "guess we can't count on the avatar" like? Dude?? If they have such good intel that they already know the fire nation is preparing an attack, and that the Avatar is alive, how tf did you not hear that the Avatar is also 12 years old and far from a master of the four elements? Idk this weirded me out.

They removed the deserter episode, which means Aang doesn't renounce firebending, which means we get no storyline of Aang dealing with his conflicted feelings surrounding firebending because fire gives life, not just destruction. Katara also doesn't find out she can heal naturally. We just get told that healing is just a thing all waterbenders can do if they train for it. Katara's necklace has no significance at all in the story currently. Yugoda doesn't recognize that Katara is Kanna's granddaughter. Katara's gran gran being from the north originally doesn't play part in the story at all. Katara doesn't even once utter the words "this necklace used to be my mother's". Idk why that bothers me so much but it does. They also removed her rage at not being allowed to fight. Sure this show's Katara also goes to fight Pakku, but literally everytime she speaks she just sounds reasonable. She fights him not because she's So Enraged at not being allowed to become the master she's meant to be, but because the script demands it. She says it so matter of factly too. She's like a mellowed out shell of who Katara is supposed to be. I feel like this overall for her character in this show btw. I don't blame Kiawentiio bc i saw clips of her performance in other works (anne with an e notably) and she's good. This genuinely just seems like poor writing and directing. They removed all of Katara's passion. She's not warm, she's not feisty, she's not angry, she's not nurturing, she's also not flawed at all. I hate to say it but in this version she's giving Mary Sue, especially bc she just learns waterbending on her own, and then gets called a master out of nowhere. That's not how that's supposed to work. You're supposed to earn the term master.

Let's talk about Yue. Amber Midthunder is a great actress, but damn, that wig. Their budget was over 100 million dollars and yet they couldn't give my girl a lace front? Her wig was so structured and stiff, and if it were any other context like cosplay or a drag show this would have been perfect. Now it just looked really unnatural and instead of the hair being platinum it was gray. Yue's character got given more to do here. They changed the story to have her break her own engagement, but it's implied that the reason she did this is bc she met Sokka in the spirit world and... fell in love? Idk it was a bit weird. Both Suki and Yue were inexplicably entranced with Sokka. In the OG it's implied that Yue likes Sokka bc he's so different from the boys in the north, kind of like a city girl falling in love with a country boy. But here it feels different, he doesn't stand out at all compared to the other boys, and Hahn isn't a dickhead like the OG. I will say i like that Yue is a stronger character here. She takes charge of her own destiny and she is the one to realize that she can save the moon spirit, and wasn't told by someone else that she could do it. I am confused by them making her a waterbender, but i'm not mad at that change per se. I liked her sacrifice scene, her own acting was great. Sokka however... i genuinely burst out laughing, like so loud. The zoom in on his face, the expression, it was too much and too little at once. Overall, Yue's story was okay. Was it better than the original? Debatable. But it wasn't bad and that's a win.

We get Avatar Kuruk way earlier than we originally got him. I'm still kind of confused about the whole "you can talk to past Avatars but only in their shrine with their statue" thing, because if that's the case how in the hell is Aang ever gonna ask advice from Roku (or Kyoshi, since the writers clearly have a bias towards her and want to make her the main Avatar guide ig) without having to travel all the way to the shrine? Can they only talk in the one specific shrine or can we take a miniature set of Avatar action figures with us just in case we ever need advice? Also this lore abt the shrines and statues is flawed at best bc later on Kuruk shows up for Aang during the fight, while they're not present at the shrine. Either way, Kuruk was far from the go with the flow Avatar he was characterized as in the original. I know that we got some insight into Kuruk's story in the Kyoshi novels, and turns out it's a lot darker than expected, but Kuruk never let that change his character. He always remained chill, or at least kept up the facade, and i don't think OG Kuruk would be the type of man that is angry about how his life turned out. In this version, Kuruk is this scared, mean, bitter man who is really unsatisfied with his destiny, which he lashed out at Aang for. He seemed really angry at Aang to for no good reason. We're also not supposed to know this part about Kuruk's life yet. It's too much information and de waste time learning about his life story, the only reason we learn it in the first place is to explain the Special Spirit Killing Knife. Also the actor for Kuruk.... yikes bro. Idk which hallmark movie they pulled him from but he and his stupid polar bear hat looked like ass the whole time.

So there's this weird part about Kuruk having a Special Knife that is able to kill spirits. Idk if this is a thing from the Kyoshi novels that also made it into this show bc truth be told i haven't made it far into those novels yet at all, but it was strange to me. Somehow Zhao has this knife. We don't know how he ended up getting it (did the fire sage give it to him? I didn't see it but i might have missed it) and we pretend that this is the Only Thing that can kill spirits even when the spirits are mortal. Doesn't that negate the fact that the spirits are mortal, if they can only be killed by a Special Knife? Also there's this weird convoluted part about how the spirits actually live in the spirit world and only cross to the physical world once every ice moon to know what it feels like to be "mortal" and choose a different "mortal" form each time and this time they happened to be fish. But still, they can Only Be Killed By The Special Knife. Huh? What's the purpose of this added extra lore? I saw someone say the underlying point is that it shouldn't be this easy to kill spirits but.... that's the whole idea behind the Ocean and Moon spirits having permanent mortal forms? Them being mortal and choosing a form as insignificant as a fish, constantly circling each other to represent the precarious balance between Ocean and Moon, a balance that can be thrown off very easily. The whole point was that they're fragile so why add all this extra exposition for no reason? Why make the spirits harder to kill if in the end you're still just gonna have a guy stabbing a wet bag and not some rough spirit killing battle?

Zhao also just gets told by the fire sage that killing the moon is a thing he can do. I don't like what this changes about Zhao's character. Zhao is supposed to be this cunning man. He's scary, determined, strategically inclined, but alas overconfident and willing to go too far which ends up being his downfall. His ambition is what led him to do his own research by visiting a spirit library to find any weakness he could potentially exploit, and that's precisely what he found. In the original, Zhao always fought for his own career. His own accomplishments got him the tools to try and beat Zuko in the Avatar race. But in this version, Zhao just keeps getting handed things. He's a slippery snake that plays friends with Zuko and then tries to steal the glory from under his nose. He gets handed the archers, he gets handed the information on the moon spirit, he gets handed a war balloon (which completely ruins the surprise of the fire nation suddenly having air power at the invasion), and he gets helped by Azula of all people. It makes him look a bit chumpy in this story, and it really worsens his villain qualities.

On a completely other note, this LA seems to have a thing for making adults yell at a 12yr old Avatar for leaving the world behind, and it doesn't make any sense, because in this story Aang left on Appa for a joyride to clear his head. Aang didn't purposely leave. He had every intention of returning after an hour. Yet every adult in this show, even the past Avatars that know damn well Aang didn't flee from his responsibilities, yells at him bc he accidentally got encased in ice. And somehow this Aang gets made to feel worse about it than OG Aang even though he deserves it way less bc this Aang didn't actually run away! I don't like what this changes about Aang's character. In the OG, Aang has one fatal character flaw and that's avoiding responsibility. He runs away, and has problems with taking accountability for what his actions cost the world. He goofs around, plays games and likes to have fun to avoid having to face his destiny, all while carrying the guilt and blame for the century war. It's a huge part of Aang's character journey. The guilt he feels isn't misplaced bc Aang knows he ran off, and he knows that the world is in its current state because of his decision. In the end he takes responsibility by showing up to the fight with Ozai alone. In this LA, even though by all means Aang shouldn't feel responsible, he ends up taking responsibility right away. He goes to Kyoshi Island, not to goof around and ride giant koi, but because he knows he can talk to Kyoshi there. Kyoshi yells at him for leaving (again, why? She knows he didn't run away) and gives him a vision about the watertribe getting destroyed. Instead of panicking about it (like OG Aang did after finding out abt the comet) he just accepts that he needs to go and help. And while this Aang does get to have fun moments (i especially loved how in the first episode he sees playing watertribe children and immediately joins them, that was quintessential Aang), he just seems very down and serious a lot of the time. He's scared of people getting hurt and is very worried abt the safety of his friends to the point where he agrees with Pakku and tells Katara she shouldn't fight. It's not Aang at all bc OG Aang was rooting for Katara when she fought Pakku. To sum it up: i think the casting for Aang was perfect. A cute southeast asian skater kid that loves to have fun and genuinely just looked the part? Brilliant! I am genuinely not upset at Gordon's performance at all (although sometimes i wish he'd enunciate a bit better). But the writing messed up the character so much that i couldn't even feel the joy for having the perfect looking Aang. I will say Koifish Godzilla (Koizilla if you will) looked dope. What did confuse me abt the Koizilla scenes is that sometimes there was no music (which is a choice i often like bc it gives the scene extra gravitas) and then sometimes there was a majestic score playing in the back, like they couldn't choose how they were gonna execute it and just picked both. I know that's nitpicky but it bothered me nonetheless.

Speaking of Koizilla. Wtf was that thing they added about Aang "succumbing" to the ocean spirit and being "lost"? They didn't even explain it at all, but both Yue and Iroh talked about how Aang would be lost forever now. We don't get a why, we don't get a how. And "lost" is such a vague word for it too. Like would his spirit be lost and only his body remain? Would he be completely swallowed up by the ocean? Would he remain Koizilla, forever rampaging at the ice wall? They added this for extra tension i guess, but it doesn't really work when only minutes later Aang is able to return no problem bc Katara talked him out of it, so we don't even get to find out what "he'll be lost forever" means. Also: the scene with Katara talking Aang out of it was cute, but the execution was weird. Originally Katara gives this speech when Aang goes Avatar state at the southern airtemple. I like that they still kept Katara's speech to Aang bc it highlights their bond which is especially important for later on in the show, but I don't like how now Katara had to give this really heartfelt emotional speech to Aang in front of everyone else at the northern watertribe. It's supposed to be quite an intimate moment between her, Sokka and Aang as a new family, they're supposed to promise they won't let anyone harm him, which eventually calms him down. Here though Katara's just yelling these words at him in front of everyone and all the intimacy is gone. It also doesn't work as well bc we barely got any time of the gaang bonding. They spend episode 3-6 apart most of the time, so really they shouldn't feel this bond towards each other just yet. Because this LA removed a lot of the side adventures, we don't get the feeling that these kids have known each other for months.

Another thing they removed is Appa and Momo as characters. In the original they each get their own moments, we even got one whole episode with Appa as the main character (which won an award btw). Here though, Appa is solely used as a transportation animal and Momo... honestly i don't even remember what he does but i think it's mostly a small comedic bit? Also he hands the acorn to one of the characters. This is a bad change bc in these episodes Momo gets hurt so bad he nearly dies, and it has no emotional impact at all bc he's just an accessory in this story. I felt no emotional attachment to Momo and he just has no personality. I wonder how this choice is gonna play out when we get the kidnapped Appa story bc so far it's not looking good.

Anyway, for positives. I warmed up on Dallas's performance a lot, i wasn't that mad at Ian Ousley's performance and there were moments where he genuinely made me laugh. The cgi for the creatures was decent, but for the backgrounds it looked horrible. I liked that they showed how devastating the Seige of the North ended up being, with the unnamed kid and Hahn both dying. I liked the effect showing those two had on our main characters. I liked when Aang, Sokka and Katara all worked together taking out that one firenation ship. I liked the way they showed Sokka and Yue bonding. I really warmed up to the costumes as well, i still wish they dirtied it up a little to make them look less new.

There's probably some more positives but they're really minor compared to the negatives and also my brain is just done atp. I'm never gonna rewatch it for more analysis either bc i don't think i'll survive it lol. I might make another post abt my opinion on the show as a whole? Like an overall summary? Bc this shit is VERY long and i do apologize. If you made it this far, uhm. Thanks for caring abt my opinion so much that you sat down for like 10 minutes to read my angry yapping? I appreciate it.

Anyway bye

#avatar the last airbender #atla #avatar #natla #netflix live action #netflix atla #atla netflix #netflix #atla la #atla live action #natla review

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hobiebrownismygod · 6 months

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My OC but I can't draw - The Widow

Maitreyi Jokhar (she/her & South Indian), Earth-206202, Present day, Spider-man/Black Widow (kind of) variant

I doubt anyone's gonna see this, but if you do and you like my character, let me know, cuz idk whether I should try to write stuff about her like other creators on Tumblr or if I should just keep her within the confinement of my mind lol.

Summary: She's basically the Black Widow if she was Spider-man and Indian. She went through a very similar process as the MCU Black Widow when it comes to her backstory. As for her suit, I got inspiration from Cindy Moon/Silk Spider and she basically wears a black face mask with a silver and black suit with straight black pants/jeans over them. She has her black hair pulled back in a braid that falls to her mid-back with curtain bangs to frame her face. For her backstory, I tried to make it as accurate to the MCU universe as I could because shes a product of H.Y.D.R.A, and I also tried to follow the storyline of ATSV but if there are any mistakes, please correct me! I made her bisexual and it'll briefly mention that below too. I'm going to ship her with Hobie Brown, cuz I'm obsessed with him, so some of that will be down as well. If you have any feedback or anything, that would be greatly appreciated, because I'm still pretty new to Tumblr and this is my first Spider-sona/OC! Also, if anyone can think of a better name for her, please let me know, cuz "The Widow" feels kind of cliche, lol.

This is a MEDIUM-LENGTH POST (About 1.2k words)

Backstory, Personality, Looks, Relationship, Fighting Style and Canon Events are all under the cut! 💜

I think I gave her too much trauma but whatever, character development and all that great stuff :p

Backstory:

Kidnapped and sold into child trafficking at the age of 5

Eventually forced into the Red Room/Black Widow Program from the ages of 7-14(the same one that Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow was subject to)

In this universe, the Red Room Program is an extension of Hydra

Chosen to be part of one of Hydra's new super-soldier experiments at the age of 15 after hundreds of failed attempts at replicated the super-serum used on Captain America during WWII

Gave her the same powers as the normal Spider-man except she has a limited amount of webs and has fangs which inject extremely deadly venom

Continued to be trained by Hydra until the age of 16, when the Avengers of her universe were finally able to find the base and invade it

Captain America/Steve Rogers of her universe took her in and treated her like a daughter, because she reminded him of Bucky who he lost in the war

She became an Avenger until her universe's version of Avengers Infinity War happened, except they weren't able to bring everyone back, and they were only able to get rid of the infinity stones

Half of the universe disappeared, including most of her Avenger friends

The world blamed superheroes for this and superheroes were no longer revered in this universe and were instead hated

She gave up her mask until she was eventually recruited by Miguel at the age of 18, only a few months after she gave it up

Looks:

I can't draw her out but this is what I imagine her to look like in my head

Fairly short, about 5'5ish

Black hair that she pulls back into a loose braid that falls to her mid-back with curtain bangs framing her face

Medium brown skin cuz she's South Indian, so probably an almond brown color with big dark brown eyes and long lashes

Wears a black face mask instead of a normal Spider-man mask, kind of like Silk/Cindy Moon's

Her suit is a black and silver spider-man suit and she wears straight black pants, kind of like straight jeans over them.

Has a big silver spider emblem on her back

Fingerless gloves to make it easier to stick onto walls

Has a side pocket in her pants where she hides a knife given to her by her version of Aunt May (expanded on in the canon events section of the post below)

Personality:

Cold, and doesn't really like to open up to people because of her trauma

When she does open up it comes out very emotionally and she kind of bursts

She has anger issues, and can get pretty heated, especially if she's performed badly during a mission or missed a punch during a fight

She beats herself up over little things, and expects perfection from herself (trauma)

She has a punching bag for this reason and she's always in the conditioning/training area of the Spider Society, trying to be better, to be the best

Despite this, she's really gentle and quiet around people she cares about (Hobie, Margo, Pav, etc...)

Doesn't enjoy physical touch unless its from someone she really cares about or feels safe around

Her love language is physical touch and quality time and if she's around someone she cares about, she'll constantly be touching them, whether its holding their hand, holding their finger or having her arm around their waist

Doesn't crack jokes like the average spider-man, has a very dry sense of humor when she does make jokes

Once someone get really close to her, she'll never let them go, always being really clingy and hugging on to them, cuz shes afraid of losing them like she lost everyone else

She never got the chance to be a kid, so she can seem a little clingy and childish at times.

She tries hard not to be, but its so difficult when she's so afraid of being alone again

Fighting Style:

She's very acrobatic

She tends to fight differently than the average Spider-person because she was trained to be more of an assassin

Uses anything in the environment she can get her hands on, like sticks, knives, sharp rocks, even pencils

Shes very handy with guns

Stopped holding back her punches after her canon event (expanded on in the canon events section of this post below)

Relationships:

After joining the Spider-Society, she met Hobie Brown and fell head over heels for him, although she would never admit it

He reminded her of Captain America/Steve cuz of how vocal Hobie is about his values and beliefs

Steve was the same way and she always admired that so it fueled her crush on Hobie

They became friends shortly after she arrived

She told Hobie about how people in her universe don't like superheroes after what happened and he immediately asked her if she wanted to stay with him in his dimension instead

She got very flustered but eventually said yes and now she stays in his spare room

He's trying to teach her how to play the guitar, but she's not that good at it

But she has a really nice singing voice

Sometimes she'll sit down next to Hobie when he plays the guitar and softly sing along to the music with her head on her knees

Its comforting for her and she likes being around him

Maitreyi isn't ACAB like Hobie, but she supports him either way, going with him to protests and being in the audience when his band plays

Since she was brought up in present-day she doesn't have as many bad experiences with racism as he does, but she, as a brown-skinned individual, has dealt with it before

She found that after moving to Brooklyn, there was a lot of prejudice against dark-skinned people, especially since she lived in the upscale, predominantly white neighborhood with her version of Aunt May

Because of this, she can somewhat relate to him, but not on the same level

Maitreyi also became close with Margo Kess/Spider-byte

They clicked when they first met

Margo likes to show Maitreyi all the cool tech she makes because her universe is a lot more advanced than Maitreyi's

She loves silently sitting in the corner while Margo works because she feels safe with her

She and Pavitr immediately clicked when they first met

Hobie introduced her to him and she was absolutely in awe of this optimistic, colorful young man who was basically the exact opposite of her in personality terms

They're both South Indian so they quickly bonded over their shared culture

Despite Maitreyi being South Indian, she does speak some Hindi, along with German, English and Russian

She doesn't speak her mother-tongue or even know what it is because she was taken from her parents so young, but she tried to learn Hindi after moving to Brooklyn because she wanted to be closer to her culture

Pav and Maitreyi talk in Hindi to each other sometimes, which confused Hobie whenever he's with them

She looks up to Miguel O'Hara

She thinks he's a good leader and aspires to be like him, even though she hates his justification of canon events

They have similar powers (they both have fangs) and he taught her how to talk without showing her fangs so she can be less intimidating

She likes Mexican food and they often go to the cafeteria together to eat empanadas and etc...

Both of them enjoy silence and quality time, so when they do get food together, they don't talk, they just quietly enjoy the vibes

Its the same with Jess Drew

She thinks she's freaking awesome

Jess was Maitreyi's mentor, similarly to how she was Gwen's mentor in ATSV

Jess taught her how to drive a motorcycle and she fell in love with it

Sometimes when she needs to blow off steam, she'll ask Jess to take her motorcycle out for a drive (She'll always say yes)

She does NOT like Peter B. Parker

She doesn't find him funny and doesn't like his vibes

She doesn't appreciate the fact that he brings his baby on dangerous missions, because she has a major spot spot for children

She DOES however love Mayday

She especially loves babysitting her with Hobie and watching him play with her

She finds it very comforting and sometimes she'll find herself staring at Hobie, just admiring his features and his voice and has to snap herself back to reality before he notices

He 100% has no idea about her major crush on him because he's kind of dense about those things

Also she's not vocal about it and tries her best to be inconspicuous about how attracted she is to him

Canon Events:

Maitreyi's first canon event was the experiment in which she gained her powers

It functions as her version of the "Spider-bite"

Her second canon event was losing Gwen Stacy

After being saved from H.Y.D.R.A. by the Avengers, she tried to live her life out as a normal teenager, under the protection of the S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D wanted her to assimilate with the public quickly in order to prevent the possibility of her falling under the influence of H.Y.D.R.A again, and believed that by engaging with people her age and creating emotional connections, it wouldn't happen

They allowed her to use her powers to protect Brooklyn as they wanted her to hone her abilities in a safe way, while also being able to ward off the possibility of Kingpin, Green Goblin or any of the other New York villains becoming Avengers-level threats

She was given a new name, Mary-Jane Watson, and sent to live in Brooklyn under the protection of May Parker, a retired S.H.I.E.L.D agent

She met Gwen Stacy at Brooklyn High and fell in love with her

They dated for a few months and Gwen quickly found out that she was Spider-woman

Maitreyi lost Gwen Stacy during a battle with her nemesis, Norman Osborne/Green Goblin

Maitreyi dropped out of school immediately after Gwen's death and turned her attention toward becoming a full-time Avenger

She also got rid of the alias, Mary-Jane Watson, because she wasn't fond of it in the first place and started using her original name instead

Her third canon event was losing her mentor, Steve Rogers/Captain America

In her universe's version of MCU Infinity War, where Thanos collected all the infinity stones, they were only able to stop him by killing him

Thanos destroyed the stones right before he died, and dusted away 50% of the population

Iron Man/Tony Stark was one of those 50% and therefore, they were never able to travel back in time to get the stones or do any of the things that happened in MCU Endgame

Steve Rogers was one of the people who was snapped away as well and Maitreyi held his hand as he died

Her fourth canon event was giving up her mask

Only a week after Thanos happened, she threw away her mask and went back to live with May, who was perfectly willing to house her

About two months after she gave up her mask, Miguel approached her and asked to recruit her to the Spider-Society

At first she was hesitant, but she accepted, taking back her mask and once again becoming, The Widow

This is all before the events of ATSV by the way, I have no idea how I'm gonna introduce her to ATSV-Gwen Stacy or Miles yet lol

You must be exhausted from reading all this, so here's a Hobie to refresh you!

Definitely one of my favorite pictures of him, he's so gorgeous mwah

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seldaryne · 2 months

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"Wyll's quest regarding the Wyrmway is now a subquest instead of part of his main quest."

"Wyll's quest regarding Ravengard will now more reliably and frequently receive updates in Act III."

so mechanically speaking then, was the demotion of quest status in the first point required for them to implement the functionality of the second or??? because i genuinely don't understand why it became a subquest, especially when the game's structure already allows you to just ignore quests & move on to the next area if you want. most of the patch notes that directly mention wyll are bug-related or scripting flow, which i don't have a problem with (bug fixes are great, we love those). i'd love to hear any thoughts about this, though, because i really can't think of a reason why it had to become a subquest?

i also initially read that second point as planning for future updates to wyll's content but at a second glance i think it may just be referring to journal updates? i don't know, i'd like to believe my initial reaction was the correct one but... yknow. anyway i maintain that this is yet Another example of some really goddamn weird choices on the developmental end of things. if the companion quests exist on a sliding scale of 'most related to current main storyline to least,' wyll is very much at the top end of things. optimistic thought is that a lot of his scrapped content existed in the parts of act 3 that were cut, but i would think that as a studio you'd see that & make an effort to level things out with how much screentime the other companions have. at the bare minimum, your player base shouldn't be able to clock so many weird holes in his story arc where it's clear that something else was supposed to be offered.

i'm also not saying that the other companion arcs weren't clunky in some areas & didn't need a bit of help, but the disparity here makes deprioritizing those edits seem like a more logical course of action. like there's a difference between some slightly unpolished scenes vs. something that feels fundamentally lacking in a lot of structural ways, especially when you get into the finer points of the comparisons. act 3 imo is the one that feels the most bare-bones to me. like yes, there's Stuff there visually and quests too but it doesn't feel as lived-in as acts 1 & 2. i would say that the underdark to ketheric section feels the most dense, content-wise, and i don't think it's a coincidence that it's the bracket of the game i enjoy the most. i maintain that giving wyll's storyline the attention it needs would not only help with the character arc itself, but also pad out the quieter stretches of act 3. at this point i don't really see how they'd be able to add in the upper city without either completely changing the trajectory of the third act (so like, almost definitely something we Will Not See Happen & understandably so from a production standpoint. weird post-release editing aside, it is still a finished game.) & i'm also not sure what a DLC would look like here because the main story feels pretty complete too. off the top of my head, maybe one where you follow wyll & karlach into avernus would work, but that's worldstate dependent & probably wouldn't get made for that reason.

all that to say, from where i'm standing it really seems like giving wyll the same respect other companions are offered would by extension fix some of the act 3 issues, without having to release an entirely new area of the game (i'd love it i just don't think it's realistic lmao). like i know why/what the factors are that led to wyll getting the short end of the stick, it's bullshit but it's not the first time we've seen black characters handled unfairly by devs (& fans), but beyond that it's literally just. so confusing to me on the basis of writing alone. why wouldn't you use the character with that many ties to the titular city of the game more? why isn't he more integral to the story when it really seems like he has every reason to take the spotlight in certain areas?? like that's a fantastic resource of a character to use to move the narrative along and Yet.

idk. this started off as just a reaction to patch notes but it's so unbelievably frustrating to watch it keep happening every patch.

#like when you KNOW why but my brain still refuses to comprehend?? bc its so Dumb on production's side??#there feels like there's so little flavour text for him even like... idk.#anyway thats my thoughts on patch 6 #new kisses are nice menu qol fixes sound good now please do something about this #like put it on the list or something.#bg3 #no really like does anyone know why this is now a subquest. what does this mean have any of you seen this in other games.

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takearisk-xo · 10 months

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Hannah I'm so sorry but I don't see how consent does not apply to fictional characters. Is rape ok as long as the characters are fictional? What about child molestation? Also a lot of other real world morals are very much part of fanfics, including yours. I love your stories and love the way you write. And I'm not trying to police you. But this is a small part of AG, a story I am really really loving, that I have trouble wrapping my head around and genuinely wanted to hear your perspective. Sure it's completely fair that I don't have to read if it's a trope I'm uncomfortable with and I don't expect you to change your fic. I'm sorry that it upset you, I really only wanted to learn more about how you are approaching this.

ok there are like three conversations happening so let me break this down.

consent does not apply to fictional characters because they are fictional. they do not have the capacity to consent. they do not have agency. they are fictional. they are not real. they are constructs used as a very extensive metaphor to tell a story. full stop. ginny can't consent to any part of already gone whether it be sexual or not because i am making her do all of it. i am the puppet master pulling all the strings and these are my dolls that i play house with. she consents if *i* choose for her to consent. it's not her decision. it's mine.

if i chose to play house in a way that was noncon or dubcon that is my very real choice that i have and i would tag it as such and you would then need to make the choice if you wanted to play with me. it is not a conversation of whether rape and molestation are okay. literally all of us who live in the real world know that is absolutely not okay and a very real crime for very real reasons. but if someone chooses to use rape, or molestation, or whatever, as a vehicle to tell their story, that is their prerogative and that *is* okay. we cannot tell someone that they can't write a rape story. full stop.

now, let me get off my high horse. i think your question is: how is it okay for ginny, who has woken up with no memory past june of 1996, to engage is sexual urges/acts? my original answer to a similar question was "spoilers" and it still is but i have eleven messages in my inbox and i'm over it... maybe my show instead of tell is too much show, maybe i'm not as good as a writer as i thought i was, maybe we haven't quite gotten to the full realization of this storyline. maybe its all three! regardless, it comes down to how does ginny see herself. and how do the people around her see her. do they see her as a 14 almost 15 year old or do they see her as an adult? up to this point, ginny has asserted that she is frustrated with the way harry, her family, and her friends have been treating her. she, as a character, and on multiple occasions, has declared that she is an adult capable of making her own decisions. she had the conversation with healer silverberry where she had him confirm she was of age, she refuses to take outside opinions on situations when she feels she is perfectly capable of deciding on her own, she acts and manifests those decisions confidently and without second-guessing it. she is well on her way to accepting that she is no longer a teenager, but a 20 year old woman whose actions have consequences. i have plans for this to be a gradual awareness for both harry and ginny. this isn't a thing where harry is pushing himself on her or ginny doesn't know exactly what she's getting into. the sex is a resolution. it's them coming together physically as a representation of their decision to still be together after several more chapters of plot points and angst. but if that is not enough for you to feel comfortable with the explicit nature of the last chapter then that is okay and you do not have to read it.

did i miss anything? no? ok i think i'm done with this subject for today.

#ok let me tag for trigger warnings #tw rape #tw molestation #proship #anti-antiship #anon #answered #already gone #already gone spoilers

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godslush · 4 months

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Hello there! I have a question I was hoping to maybe get your opinion on. What do you think about the idea of Terra being effected by the Earths changes if he stays on Earth for to long? Like air/sea pollution and global warming I’ve been playing with this idea in my head for a little bit and was wondering if I could get another view point. On another note I love your art! And your point of view on the stardroids and their lives it’s really helped reactivate my megaman hyper fixation again! I do hope you’re having a good night/day! Thank you!

Heya! Thank you very much for the kind words-! 😭

As far as headcanons are concerned, I'm not one to really weigh in on what other people want to do with their takes. I mean, case-in-point, I have at least two completely different headcanons for the Stardroids, more if I consider AUs and/or collaborative efforts. It really all comes down to individual worldbuilding! If you can come up with a good reason why an alien robot would be specifically tied to a planet he was tasked to conquer/destroy, then sure! ...Even if you can't, there's nothing stopping you! ^^;

I personally don't see Terra as having a particular attachment to our planet aside his name, but again, that's purely my take based on the way I developed him over the two separate storylines I have for the Stardroids. I do think the idea of him being more intrinsically attached to the planet is interesting, even if it's not the way I'd go about it!

I'll leave my takes under a cut here, since I tend to get long-winded about anything:

The Stardroids from my comic are just direct offshoots from Gigamix, so I've been trawling around Ariga-sensei's TwiX for information; he'll totally answer tasteful/respectful questions, and occasionally drops massive infodumps (usually followed up with "べ、別にロックマンの事なんてなんとも思ってないんだからね!" like the tsundere king he is (to be fair, he's also said his feelings on the subject are diverse and complicated and equal parts negative to positive, which I respect)).

At the end of the day a lot of his Gigamix-specific admissions are that he wasn't able to realize a lot of his original plans due to time/space constraints and breaking his arm. The gist I got relevant to this topic was that the Stardroids are Completely Alien to us, and their names coinciding with our own planets was simply a matter of translation convenience. He mentions it here in the ALT of the second image:

I've also been thinking a lot about why they are the names of planets in the solar system, excavated in ancient ruins in space, and the scene where Terra names each of the Stardroids while learning the language of Earth at high speed by taking the memories of a decaying robot on its way to planetary exploration, and I thought it was interesting to think about, but too expansive as a branch (The number of pages is finite…!) In the end, I didn't draw the naming scene in Gigamix.

Past that I did end up doing a ton of independent development on their source civilization, to explain their motivations, their powers, the name thing, as well as why they resemble humanoids and/or animals relevant to our planet. I can't help it, I love worldbuilding-! I have a large G-Doc for what would have been the extension of the comic had my life situation not thrown me into deep creative depression. Both Venus and Neptune were going to have anecdotes specifically addressing how they've adapted to being 'given' the names of our own planets/gods… the only reason I don't discuss it in greater depth here is there might still be a chance I'll get around to fully realizing everything I have written up behind the scenes, it'll just require nothing short of a miracle to get my life together first. But I do have a lot to work from if/when the time comes, and I really hope it does because I feel very strongly about what I had planned!

The other Stardroid headcanon is more post-game focused, and ties in with my OC, Antares, and a 'fake game' idea I had for it that would expand on a different version of their history (built with some input from @dahlia-the-nurd and taken in my own direction over time). In that version, the star-based 'gods' and their planet-based underlings were designed to coincide with their Creators' knowledge of far-off stars and planets (from their perspective). It's no different from humans looking into our own night sky for inspiration for our own creativity, but still doesn't really translate into the Stardroids themselves having any particular attachment or connection to our solar system, aside it becoming a destination for them once they found themselves on the run, simply because they knew it as 'the system we were named for.'

Terra in both iterations is fairly bitter at his defeat, and feels a sense of resentment towards the planet for sending a champion that could best him. As a result, he really doesn't spend a lot of time on Earth, much less forming any sort of connection or attachment to it. Most of his efforts go towards orchestrating the other Stardroids in keeping their space maintained/supplied, and addressing the much more capricious matter that is Sunstar.

#ask answer #dai's mega man dump #the wall of text has awoken #onyxgladiolus

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home-halone · 7 months

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Disclaimer: Assume All BG3 Spoilers. VERY LONG Rambling. I'm just a rando with a blog, these are my personal frustrations and I'm not trashing the characters, writers, or other people's enjoyment of things.

You know, after seeing all the companion word count + runtime statistics of all the BG3 Origin Companions, I really wanna acknowledge the fact that Astarion did get a disproportionate amount of attention and care. It sounded like his arc has been mostly consistent since EA and wasn't subjected to extensive rewrites (iirc? from an interview with Stephen Rooney, his writer) so it wouldn't be out of the question that Astarion's storyline & romance got more time in the oven than the others did, so to speak.

So yeah, even if length/run-time isn't strictly the only metric for a good & satisfying storyline, the amount of content definitely contributed to how well-received Astarion's romance is. He had a lot more screentime than anyone else. In fact, from what I understand, they were short on time during production and one of the reasons for his additional Dark Urge-specific content was because the Companion design lead had been writing the Dark Urge storyline while writing for Astarion, and they managed to squeeze content for both in. That's not a bad thing in itself. A lot of love and care went into Astarion, and it's evident because so many people resonated with him. The bad thing is that the others didn't get the same treatment.

Especially in comparison to the runtime of Wyll's romance. And it's so tragic. His romance is so heartfelt, earnest and sweet, and I wish I had MORE of that? The length of his scenes are a fraction of Astarion's. It's truly unfair, because there's so much of this tender dynamic with Tav left unexplored.

I have to admit I haven't seen all the other romances, but I have seen Astarion's, Shadowheart's, Wyll's, Gale's, and part of Karlach's.

Rant Start

Gale's in particular frustrates me so much. I went into BG3 figuring he was my type of love interest. The sort of masculine guy with facial hair, he's a little bit goofy with a dark secret. Totally my type. I thought it was very compelling and prime for angst. But even though the others' romances left me wanting more and wishing there'd been more content, Gale made me feel like... it was so unsatisfying?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed him. I took him with me as a permanent party member to the very end. I romanced him all the way to late Act 3. Tim Downie's performance sold the charming and dweeby wizard-boyfriend so well. Gale’s quips and dialogue could be silly, but very profoundly romantic when a scene called for it.

But even with all the things I enjoyed, I found his content to be lacking in a different way. It felt disjointed. Like there were two sides of him written:

The opportunistic power-hungry wizard struggling with his past with Mystra, his role as the idk 'vessel' I guess, for the Netherese Orb. Him having to decide between detonating himself or not.

The conceited ☝️🤓 (affectionate) wizard in your party who is also quite endearing and romantic.

I can't seem to reconcile these two sides of him as being the same person. Yes, I know people are multifaceted, and that he can be both these things. I just feel like the game failed to present these sides of him in a way that meshed well enough to demonstrate his ability to slide between these two sides of himself.

ok but who is he?

It was really hard for me to believe that he was power-hungry for some reason. He didn't really behave in a way that demonstrated this trait, when the text wasn't spelling it out for me, like whacking me over the head with "he is being obsessed with being more powerful rn". I guess I wanted to see that outside of major story points, that he's prone to this behavior.

Instead, he struck me more as invested in learning more magic in a standard wizard fashion, who... somehow ended up crossing a literal god's boundaries in the past I guess??? I know that's not the full extent of what he is, but that's the vibe he's giving off, because he's fairly benign and seemingly levelheaded outside of world-ending events.

I think part of the reason for my difficulty in believing this part of him is the... I guess lack of a driving force behind this behavior? The text explicitly ties his self-worth into his prowess as a wizard, but... why. I wanna know why and dig right into it. Gale Dekarios I want to put you under a microscope. Why is he hoarding power to the point of self-destruction and sabotaging what good standing he had with a goddess he worshipped and adored? He seems to have a good relationship with his mother and he has Tara at his side, so it’s probably not because of things at home. Is there just a wizardy slippery slope from "I wanna know more than I should" to "I wanna kill god and take her place"???

Like, who are you? Why is this so important to you to the point of obsession?

"Gale's Ex"

I know there are different takes on it, like when Minsc mentions that the Rashemen hide away "weave-touched boys" and he posits that perhaps it was "...done to hide them from Mystra, and the snares she sets for young and prideful boys."

I think, if the text weren't so neutral in its depiction of Gale and Mystra's relationship it would have made for a really compelling facet of his character. Instead, it's repeatedly framed like Gale and Mystra had a pretty pleasant relationship and that there was only a falling out because of the incident with the Orb.

Like, yes, what Minsc says was in the text, but with it being said by Minsc, a character you don’t get until the third act, and with this dialogue being so out of the way, it feels like this info is entirely optional to the narrative. When. It feels like. It shouldn't be.

If this were baked into his storyline better, it would give Gale more depth. Instead, I have to sit here and headcanon it.

I imagined Gale as a fairly unremarkable kid except for his apparent calling for magic that leads to him earning the attention of a goddess. Finally, he has a sense of worth. He's exceptional. He works harder, learns more and more and more. He enjoys the renown and respect it brings. Here's the goddess of magic who mentors him, but then basically grooms him, and betrays his trust (whether by abusing the authority she has over him or some other way).

Headcanon aside, I'm surprised she didn't break his trust in some way. With the way Gale talks about Mystra in the later part of the game, you'd think his desire to USURP GOD AND NEVER BE BEHOLDEN TO THEIR WHIMS AGAIN was a wholly personal endeavor. That feels way too personal to just be a vendetta against your ex. I know Mystra's supposed to be a Lawful Neutral deity, but I'm sure they could have written something that objectively upholds the integrity of magic while being super fucked up of her to compel Gale to do.

I also feel like his constant desire to be more would also be because of the perceived (emotional) security his abilities as a wizard had brought him. Becoming more powerful led to more fulfillment. This one is a little more apparent in the text, but it also feels like, if you want to go against this, you're being punished for trying to tell Gale he's enough.

"ur enough to me gale"

In the romance scene in Act 2 with the stars, you get opportunities to indulge in magic with Gale. It leads to more intimate moments, and there are multiple points where you can flat out tell him that you don't have to be impressed to love him for who he is without all the grandstanding. And if you take that option, you actually miss out on some genuinely beautiful and romantic scenes. INSTEAD, you get a really brief scene where you're plopped on a magic bed and he just agrees to do it your way. No elaboration or validating your choice.

Like yes the 1080° Space Sex scene was a little comical, but it's also a thousand times way more intimate than the other outcome. Narration makes a point to highlight the intensity of the act. I know magic is Gale's thing, but if the whole point of this is trying to convince someone they are appreciated just as they are, why is this the more rewarding option? I don't mean this as a complaint that the magic bed scene should have been a "more explicit, hotter" version. Like, yeah, it could have, but that's not the point. My point is, it doesn't really give a satisfying outcome. Spawn!Astarion's Act 3 sex scene is tame as hell (everyone's clothed) compared to the Ascended!Astarion one, but the emotional payoff was really good. Astarion opens up to Tav and it establishes a feeling of intimacy without being explicit. And that could have been a possibility here!

But it wasn't.

I read accusation on some reddit comment once (I know this isn't representative of people who enjoy his character regardless) that anyone who feels put off by these sides of him are because people can't stand a love interest having an ex. But I don't care that he had a past entanglement with someone who isn't my Tav. I care that so much of the dialogue revolves around it. I know it can't be helped because he's a wizard who was Mystra's lover and Chosen. Plus from the narrative POV, he's also tied to the Crown of Karsus.

Maybe I am not remembering it correctly, but it felt like Gale was still very much in awe of Mystra, while trying to romance you. Like you're on a first date with someone who can't stop sighing about their mindblowing but toxic ex and you're there awkwardly trying to comfort them, knowing you're just the less-bad option.

It starts off quite forlorn (when he's staring at her likeness formed from the Weave) and turns into a petty ploy to get back at Mystra as an ex who happened to be a goddess. I felt like I should step back and give Gale some time to get over it or end up in an unhealthy relationship myself lmao. It's not even framed that way in-game (I would've eaten it up) because it's supposed to be sweet and romantic when he asks you to marry him.

But there's also a disconnect. Because while the scenes focus so much on Gale and his poorly processed feelings on Mystra, he also just goes right into saying he’s feeling seen and loved and found someone worth living for because Tav reassures him. The jump feels so abrupt. It doesn't feel like any of the scenes or interactions really support that? The sudden sweeping ride-or-die declarations that he can't live without me?? It doesn't feel earned. Not in the way I felt like I earned Shadowheart's trust, or even when I glimpsed into Astarion slowlyyyy lowering his guard for example.

Even if his reputation is that he is quick to romance, I actually found his route really difficult. The slow start, getting no affection other than a somewhat flattered reaction to your interest until mid-Act 2 under the stars... That huge gap of nothingness in-between because most of his plot was concentrated in Act 3... It honestly didn't feel like he was interested in my Tav outside of being supportive towards him. I didn't feel like I was a friend or companion to Gale, the way I felt like Shadowheart or Lae'zel were truly endeared to my Tav. Gale's role vs the Netherbrain is so pivotal, that's where his arc truly lies. Until then, his growth feels minimal. So I almost feel like a Tav romancing him is a cardboard cutout character, instead of someone supporting his journey. Maybe because of how little you actually get to be by his side. Even when he finally confronts Mystra, he does that entirely on his own.

And it's sad because!!! He is interesting to me!! He says some really beautiful and touching things as standalone lines. But even then, the game makes me feel like the feeling is not truly mutual LMAO.

Anyway just to recap, the source of my frustrations with Gale's romance:

Perceived disconnect between 2 aspects of himself

Larger focus on his role in the main quest even in romantic scenes

Lack of a deeper motivation for seeking power on the level of godhood, or even just more insight to his behavior

Pacing issues with his romance, mostly slow in actual progress but makes abrupt, unbelievable leaps in affection.

#personal #bg3 vent #it's a gale-centric vent because i talk about why i dumped gale by reloading to 30 hours prior #spoilers #i don't hate him i actually like him but thats why im so frustrated #no one is obligated to read this insanity I’m just yelling at a cloud

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oofouchstovehot · 10 months

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1, 8, 19, 17, 18 & 24. (You asked me, so I'm asking in return! Feel free to answer whichever one you haven't before/want to!! hope your current drawing is well and your art block is minimal to non-existant.)

Aw, you're a treasure ☺️ thanks for giving an ask back! I hope never draw blank on storyline and your fingertips never hurt <3

1. My most recent w.i.ps! I always have a lot of wips so to be accurate I'll show them all :] I find that having a lot of goals helps with my adhd because when I'm procrastinating one of them I can just work on another and they all get finished!.... I do have a few that were failed by this process and have been forgotten a while but 9/10 Stoves agree it works!

8: What do I like most about my own work? This is actually a tough question, cause I've always found more joy in what i was drawing then how i was doing it. But i suppose I like my sketches and the messy way I do line art now :3 My sketches always appealed to me in a way that didn't translate into clean lines, and I purposefully add in some sketch marks to preserve some charm for myself.

19.Favourite characters to draw? Ooooh that's another toughy cause it always changes. 🤔 Dream!Sans has def been the recent #1, but I can remember the details i love of all my little guys <3 I love Sun's rays, the brim of Moon's hat, their eyes, Nightmare's goop eye and Tentacles, Papyrus' Scarf, Zim's antennae, Wally's sideburns, Snatcher's Claws, Ghost's Horns, Grim's cape, Bb Bender's Vest, and Danny's teeth! :]

17. What inspires you? I think it's just the idea that I can make whatever I want, participate in something like a fandom or the Artfight, and have other people look at something I've made and enjoy it! Art's like a game I can play with myself over and over and never get bored of the steps

18. I've always wanted to either write a book are make a video game about my OC's but they're so convoluted i can hardly wrap my head around them anywhere other than in my head @-@ Thinking about it, I guess a lot of my smaller projects are extensions of what I wish I could do with my own characters. Maybe one day

24. How do I deal with artblock? Like i said adhd usually lets me cycle between different pieces, but on those couple days where I just can't keep a pen to a screen I just take the L and hyper fixate on a video game for a few days until inspiration hits again and I start another w.i.p :']

#artist asks #Fae!DCA #dreamtale

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missmonsters2 · 1 year

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I hope your doing well on this fine Monday Van (I absolutely loathe mondays myself) 😂 I have sent you this message in hopes that you can help me with a problem I cannot seem to solve. You see I really enjoyed the dynamic between your own Tatyana (I’m not a crazy fan of her or anything but I do agree she is a fascinating character with a unique backstory. Kudos to you Van for the terrific storyline with her) the relationship or dynamic she has with Wanda intrigues me. You see I’m working on my own story where my main characters villain is her 10th great grandmothers sister, it’s a very supernatural story that has its roots in medieval folklore and so on. The whole idea of “my blood runs through your very veins yet you steal my birthright and have my very privilege at your feet” vibes. The main character has certain gifts (her ancestor’s sister had the very same yet was to selfish to master them) so it’s a very hateful, toxic relationship between the two. Tatyana and Wanda don’t interact too much yet when they do it is very interesting to see there dynamic. My question is how to I make the relationship between my main character and her ancestor villain feel real and tangible? I want to make the pain feel real and the anger between them both feel true. The betrayal, even though it was the villains fault for not mastering the job. The hate that the villain feels for this person who is there blood but to them as done some unthinkable crime against them. The way you write Tatyana’s emotions is truly amazing, any pointers? I hope this made any sense at all Van 😂 and hopefully you got an answer.

hiyaaaa! Mondays are actually pretty okay for me! hope it went well for you :)

I think I am having trouble understanding what the turmoil is betweeen your MC and villain is. I know you talk about them having the same powers and they're supposed to master them but why are they supposed to master their power? What is the job? Why is that a contention point?

The whole idea of “my blood runs through your very veins yet you steal my birthright and have my very privilege at your feet” vibes.

The hate that the villain feels for this person who is there blood but to them as done some unthinkable crime against them.

The betrayal, even though it was the villains fault for not mastering the job.

These are are conflicting points to me. The first two sound like the MC has stolen the ancestor's powers and some sort of "job/birth right". But the last point makes it sound like because the ancestor didn't master their powers, the MC is unwillingly stuck doing their job.

Once again, I don't have the full grasp of the details, so it's unclear to me specifically why they have hatred towards each other.

In BTL, Tatyana and Wanda are opposing forces because they're both vying for the same person and it's not about their magical powers.

Within Tatyana's character, she is egotistical and therefore sees Wanda as an inferior version of herself despite being her descendant. This is because it's hinted that Tatyana doesn't hold any familial ties even before she met reader. And what is inferior doesn't bother her.

But on top of that, Tatyana also feels that Wanda is kind of like an extension of her because they're related. It's why she feels more threatened by Nat than by Wanda. Tatyana can almost reason that reader "choosing" wanda is almost like choosing her.

Tatyana is more experienced about their magic and she has see something in Wanda that Wanda doesn't realize yet (which is being the scarlet witch) but it's not something Tatyana desires because she knows she can't become the scarlet witch.

Therefore, all their drama centers around who Reader wants to be with. Tatyana can see that reader has feelings for Wanda (and nat) but in her mind, it's all circumstancial. In her head, it's "she loves Wanda and Nat because I wasn't there for her to love. If we had just lived in peace—if what happened between us didn't happen, then we'd still be together and she would've never looked at anyone else."

I created Tatyana with her entire purpose being she wanted to love and be loved by reader due to the shared history between them. Tatyana had only ever gone against the humans because they were inteferring with her peaceful life with reader. She had only wanted to accumlate more power for reader. This history and background context creates a deeper turmoil between Tatyana and reader and also creates the hate Tatyana feels towards Nat/Wanda.

So, I think you need to decide in more depth the 'why' for your antagonist and MC. Why does the ancestor and MC want (or not want) this birthright/power? There has to be more background context for there to have deeper emotion.

Hope that helps!

#mm: answered #anon #mm.writingadvice #between the lines headcanon

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lorbanery · 6 months

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saw your post about the 20 questions and I just want to say that Kara is not the only Supergirl! after crisis on infinite earths she died, so to fill the place of "Supergirl" in the 90s there were Linda and Mae (who fuse to make Matrix). I don't know much about them beyond the barest of details but I just wanted to make you aware of their existence!

Oohhh thank you! I definitely need to read more Supergirl stuff. I love her every time she appears in something I'm already consuming, but it's so hard to find a good point to jump in. It feels like for every really interesting, really fun Supergirl appearance, there's five more that suffer from Man Who Can't Be Assed To Write Women As Actual People disease.

Which I guess is a long way to say that anyone who has any favorite Supergirl moments/titles/storylines/episodes should feel free to infodump in the replies/reblogs.

Here's mine: Any episode involving her in the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), which encompasses all of the DC cartoons from the '90s/early '00s, save for Teen Titans. You can see all of the episodes she appeared in on the DCAU wiki, including whether it was an actual appearance or just a cameo.

Her episodes in Superman the Animated Series cover her backstory, which I believe is different from Kara's most common backstory (though it seems like they're drawing a bit more from that one in more recent canon). Plus a setup for a later episode of JLU, and a good old fashioned B movie horror episode.

She has one special crossover episode with Batman the Animated Series/The New Adventures of Batman & Robin where she and Batgirl team up to fight Harley and Ivy and yes the subtext is very gay.

Then the bulk of her appearances are actually in Justice League Unlimited, where she gets some real character development and develops relationships with superheroes besides Clark (most notably Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Question).

(Honestly I really recommend JLU in general anyway. They made a point to bring in a bunch of lesser-known heroes and give them a spotlight to be badass (Roy Harper even makes a brief appearance as the only thing suggesting the TT cartoon takes place in the same universe). And when they do focus on the mainstream heroes, it's usually to directly and explicitly discuss the ethical issues of being a superhero, being a team of overpowered superheroes, having a weaponized, orbiting base that's constantly surveilling the earth. Like, my favorite episode is Clash, written by the legendary Dwayne McDuffie, which features Captain Marvel butting heads with Superman and eventually telling Supes that he's leaving the Justice League because the League (and by extension, Superman) presents itself as something, but in reality falls extremely short of that ideal. I'm not doing it justice, but folks should watch it anyway).

#supergirl #kara zor el #dc comics #superfam

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littlespoonevan · 2 years

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Soooo what are your thoughts about 5x07?

(i'm guessing you meant 5x06 but if not, i'm about to word vomit about it anyway lol sorry <3)

in short, i really liked it!!! i was worried about how they'd handle the riot given what we saw in 5x03 but i actually found the inmate's (mitchell?? guys i watched at 6am i don't remember askdjfh) motive and storyline very compelling! i also loved getting to return to hen's med school storyline and that little hint at ravi's backstory. i'm v intrigued on both accounts!!

i always knew the hostage situation wasn't gonna be quite as whump-y or hurt/comfort-y as we were headcanoning it to be so i still liked that and i think it set up a lot of very interesting things for the rest of 5a.

i think if i could compare eddie's arc (and buck's by extension) to anything right now it would be s3. in 3x06 buck and eddie had just made up after the lawsuit but the actual fallout and resolution didn't properly come about until the appropriately titled episode 9, "Fallout".

That was when we got to see eddie in therapy, that was when we had buck and eddie actually talk about their issues and saw buck's guilt over not being there. and i think i'm expecting something similar this time around. eddie's arc right now is like a series of trip switches and false starts. we're thrown off first by the fact his panic attacks are seemingly being caused by ana and the idea of a future with her. then we have a series of emergencies that parallel his own trauma that we never see him react to (almost falling out of the helicopter, the best friends call in 4x04, the hostage situation and the buried alive thing coming next week)

and it's easy to feel frustrated at his lack of reaction - i definitely have at times - but i think it's happened so frequently now that it can't be anything other than deliberate. 911 definitely has moments where it glosses over trauma but i don't think it lacks that much self-awareness. so i'm expecting this to continue to build over the next episode or two before we finally see him crack in some way

to broaden it out to buddie, i definitely feel like something is building between them also because there’s so much Not Talking about the shooting and the continued physical distance between them feels extremely pointed. (this is a great post about it). again, i feel like we have to get some kind of fallout/aftermath between them in regards to how the shooting impacted their relationship. like, i need buck to bring up the fact that eddie almost died in front of him and that was a reality he had to face even if only for a few hours

the interesting thing about this (and something i noticed someone else pointing out too) is that i have no idea what’s going through buck’s head right now. with the exception of 5x05 buck hasn’t really had an arc this season so far. the first 3 eps were him heavily involved in eddie’s storyline and ep 4 and 5 revolved around his role in chimney and maddie’s lives. none of this was about him but instead how he was connected to the other characters.

so if i could have my ideal ep 9 scenario it would be a cold open scene of one of buck’s therapy sessions (since we’ve never really seen any). i think if they were to do something like stiles’ counselling session in s2 of teen wolf it could work extremely well. like intercut what he’s talking about with little flashbacks of things that have been going on. it would be a great way to include some exposition tbh and give us insight into his head prior to seeing some kind of resolution between him and eddie

my other ideal would be intercut scenes of buck and eddie in respective therapy sessions that follow the same thread of thought for both of them. but i’ll be surprised if we see eddie agree to therapy/acknowledge he’s not okay before to the midseason finale (this is assuming 5x10 is a christmas ep)

ultimately i think 5x07 was great in terms of character and plot development despite being a somewhat stand alone ep and i feel like it’s definitely set up an interesting dynamic for the rest of 5a

my only gripe (which i knew would happen when they switched the eps) was that there was no follow-up to buck revealing he knew where maddie is but i get that might’ve been out of place in an ep like this

#anon #asks #911 spoilers #season 5 speculation #this got so long and was actually barely about the ep lmao i apologise #but also i just rewatched the stiles scene #and god i forgot about the drowning metaphor rip #5x06

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swinging-stars-from-satellites · 2 years

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Okay so I saw the Emily episodes last night and now I’m just sitting here having a Sad over it. Like, I’d been previously aware that an Emily existed, but unaware as to how things actually went down, so more of a surprise than I’d expected.

I loved the fact that—we’ve seen Mulder be super protective over his sister, but this time we get to see that protectiveness being expanded to another little girl. He really cares about keeping kids safe, doesn’t he?

The part where he’s not sure what he believes anymore 😭 (can’t remember if that was from these episodes or not though)

A little surprised he wouldn’t give Scully a heads-up about what he was about to tell the judge regarding her infertility, seeing as she didn’t already know it. So glad she didn’t get really mad at him. He hasn’t told her a lot of things though, including about what he found in the office during this arc. What’s your thoughts about M trying to protect S by keeping things from her?

I loved that she called him in for backup. She’s facing little to no support on all fronts, and then one phone call brings him unquestioningly in.

But poor Scully, fighting a losing battle all the way down to the end—this whole storyline just radiates loss.

oh the Emily arc... all my feels. sorry for taking a few days to get to this, it's been a loooong weekend for me lol and I haven't gotten much sleep.

I didn't expect those episodes to hit me as hard or stick with me as much as they did, but here I am, trawling AO3 and Tumblr for every fic I can find lol...

dude yes that connection between Emily and Samantha... Mulder already projects onto children so often on cases, because of his own childhood trauma, and Emily is just this lost little girl who needs protected, who's a part of the conspiracy out of her or anyone else's control — and she's Scully's, too — and it's kinda like... of COURSE he was going to absolutely adore her. of COURSE he would bend heaven and earth for Scully's lost little girl. the part where he goes after that doctor and shoves him up against the bookshelf and yells and threatens him is just ahsjdjsksk he is SO protective 😭

(also the fact that textually, IN CANON, IN AS MANY WORDS, they outright stated what happened as medical rape... the one and only time Chris Carter was self-aware....)

ok so re: Mulder not telling Scully about her stolen ova — I think a lot of this comes down to him being Really Bad At Talking About Things (TM). he doesn't want to add that knowledge to everything she's already struggling with during the cancer arc, and, if I have it correct (pretty big "if" tbh), the Reduxes happen shortly prior to Thanksgiving — which means that at the point of the Emily episodes it hasn't been all that long, maybe a month and a half, since her cancer went into remission. so I just kinda feel like he never had an opportunity that felt like it would be the right time — knowing how awkward he can be, idk when/if he *would* have told her without the circumstances of CC/Emily tbh. they can talk about so much stuff all the time but when it comes to serious things, they both s t r u g g l e. and, like you said, in a way he was trying to protect her from more pain — especially since she was also fighting cancer.

and yeah!! she really can't think of anywhere else she wants to turn, anyone else she can depend on the way she can trust Mulder — and of course, he's there for her in heartbeat. no hesitation, they're there for each other no matter what, no questions asked. the way he supports her in these eps always gets to me, he's struggling so much both bc he hid the fact of her infertility from her and because he, as always, blames himself for everything that happens to her and by extension Emily, but he's there at her shoulder at the hospital and doing everything he possibly can for her and her little girl. it's heartbreaking honestly, especially when the doctor asks if they're the parents and they look at each other (and uh... please note that they Don't deny it....) and Mulder ducks his head like he thinks he's undeserving even of that assumption. but the fact of the matter is that he DOES often, as i saw a now-deactivated user point out once, take on quite a bit of the responsibility that a husband would for Scully — even so far as being the one to go with her mom to choose a hecking gravestone when they think she's dead, and being the one to call and tell her mom she has cancer. I know I joke a lot about Mulder being husband material, but... for real. and in the context of the Emily arc, that HURTS.

poor Scully indeed... she's constantly put through more trauma, more loss, more grief, and she carries it with so much grace most of the time, but she doesn't deserve any of it. neither does poor sweet Emily, for that matter... honestly the Scully girls all just deserve so much better (including Melissa... my beloved.... I miss her every day...).

#ugfhhhhhnd i constantly have feels over emily tbh #in the fix it AU in my head mulder nicknames her ''tater tot'' bc of the mr potato head joke #Lu rambles #asks #txf #the x files #meta finding tag #mellia i feel like you should have your own tag #txf s5 #fox mulder #dana scully

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onewomancitadel · 2 years

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Oscar, Ozma, and Jaune

So that anon who asked me the other day about how if Jaune is the most straight-up Ozma coded of the characters (and Cinder, Salem), why doesn't he have Ozma in his head instead? Obviously I gave my answer but I actually realised there's even something that better explains that I only offhandedly mentioned in one post I don't think is under my Reverse Salem/Ozma tag, but deserves elaboration. I was mildly embarrassed at the time to do so. I'll go ahead now anyway.

It's Jungian, of course, so take it with a grain of salt and decide for yourself if you think it's worth consideration. It is basic storytelling language and probably the most consistent of any (beyond simplistic application of the monomyth), and I think it's being consciously used.

Anyway, the Jungian archetypical Shadow represents a moral challenge to the ego. It's usually something explicitly offputting to your sense of self.

In Yang's case, hers is her mother's. In Yang's arc, she can't understand why her mother would have left, because she would never have left Ruby. She has to come to understand her mother in order to understand herself and her role in the war against Salem, and in the process helps begin Raven's redemption (and the redemption of team STRQ).

In Blake's, hers is Ilia, who stayed with the White Fang and continued down a path of violence which ran contrary to Blake's values. (Whether you think this is tone-deaf or not is beyond the point, but I am aware of issues with this storyline). In coming to understand Ilia she better understands her own motivations, which helps reform the White Fang and Ilia herself.

In Weiss', hers is her sister, Winter. Winter is the girl who stayed behind in Atlas, and ended up serving a general who would become corrupted in the fight against Salem. In coming to understand Winter, she better understands how to reunite her family and reform her family legacy, and questions her values. (When she first comes to Atlas, she can't believe her sister would allow what has happened, to happened). Weiss is Winter's opportunity for redemption.

Ruby's Shadow is Cinder. Cinder has the protagonist origin (hardship, orphaned) but was victimised by her circumstances, and is out for her own self-interest, converse to Ruby's self-sacrifice to the point of closing herself off. Whilst Cinder isn't redeemed yet, it's not unlikely that Cinder's healing for her Grimm arm, and by extension her Dark Curse/enslavement, is possible through Ruby, and Ruby's silver eyes.

You can see the trend here that the Shadows are fundamental challenges to the hero's motives and sense of self.

Oscar's Shadow is Jaune, who, being the most Ozma-coded, is, in a way, representative of the Salem and Ozma conflict conflicting with Oscar's life and his values. Ozma is the literal presence of the reincarnating spirit, and Jaune is the romantic drive of Salem/Ozma and the inheritance of that conflict. Likewise, so is Cinder for Salem.

That's why he's the angriest

when they find out they can't kill Salem.

That's why it's meaningful that Jaune is particularly set on saving Oscar in V8. That's basically part of the healing.

But that's also why Jaune and Cinder are set up as personal enemies, because they're Salem and Ozma playing out their hatred. Potentially in a reverse fashion, which fixes it.

And that's why Ozma doesn't make sense as a reincarnation in Jaune, because Ozma does not and really doesn't feel like confronting Salem or anything remotely connected to her until he's forced to by Oscar, and this only happens in the canon after Jaune and Cinder have already had their V5 confrontation. In a sense, Jaune is 'too close to home', but then in another, if he has a romance with Cinder it's healing.

Anyway, Jaune is externalised in this sense. As I mentioned in that post, it would be virtually impossible for Jaune to conduct a romance with Cinder with Ozma in his head (like, Ozma would not be approving of cavorting with a Salem analogue whom I'm not sure he remembers how to love anymore). In another sense this is also Salem and Ozma working out their stuff without the reincarnation, just the Grimm curse to deal with.

It finally scratches that spot for me, for Jaune being Like That, and a little bit naughty. He and Cinder are both Shadows. On the flipside, they're each other's anima and animus, so they've got all that intense spiritual stuff going on.

There you go, I hope that makes sense. That's what I think is being done anyway.

#reverse ozlem

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magicalhideoutengineer · 4 years

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Q: What was it like to film the love potion scenes?

Dan: “Yeah, I was drunk with love!”

Q: “An easy task, with this one! [gesturing to Alison Sudol]”

Alison: “Well, he had some help… there was some help – it wasn’t just-!”

Dan: “What?!” [laughs] “The arc of the scene was that we’d kind of laid out that [the love potion] was how [Queenie] got [Jacob] there, to Europe. Jacob’s very practical, like ‘There’s no way we’re going to Europe – let’s live in secrecy, let’s not rock the boat!’, so [Queenie’s] like, ‘BOOP! Okay, now you’re under my spell — we’re going to Europe, and we’re going to get married.’

“Over the course of that scene… [Queenie] gets [Jacob] all the way to Europe and I think it’s fine, but once Newt comes into the picture, I think she’s gotta juggle a little bit more, and the spell starts to unravel, and as you see – I start to become very weird and start to get more drunk over the course of [the scene], and it was a lot of fun to play.

“There was a lot of stuff – a lot of Chaplain-y bits – that I added to it. [To Alison] Remember the pile of salt? There was a bit where I get obsessed with a salt shaker, and I’m like ‘Look at this salt!’, suddenly ‘cause it’s magic salt there’s this pile of salt. It went on forever, but that’ll be in the DVD extras! [laughs]

“There was one thing that David Yates said – he really wanted this moment where I was holding onto [Alison] and looking at her and I was like ‘Okay I’ll just make this work!’, I thought I’d act like my daughter, who is two, and at the end of the night it goes from ‘Come here! Stay in one place!’ to when you get her on one shoulder, and she just looks up you like she’s spacing out. I was like, ‘I’m gonna be like that!’”

Alison: “It was so strange! Such an odd dynamic – like this huge baby hanging onto me!”

Q: What was the feeling like for you when you cracked open the script and saw that 'Oh good, we've got a really great relationship to get into'?

Alison: "Well, I knew it was coming – I'd been told ahead of time what the overarching arc was, and my reaction to it was really like "Ahhh *pained noise*, ow!" , you know, like, "No, ugh!”

"My biggest fear, really, was that because we don't have a lot of time, there are a lot of storylines in this film and there's a lot to convey, and this is a very big journey, that you would stay with Queenie and understand why she's making all the decisions that she's making, so that when she makes a particular decision, that it hurts, but it doesn't feel like she's not who you thought she was. That was my biggest concern. I talked extensively to David Yates about it, and Jo [Rowling], and Jo's advice about it was really, 'Trust your instincts'.

"So we worked a lot on [Queenie's journey], just to make it feel grounded. You know, it was a painful thing to go through, I'm not gonna lie. The first one was way more fun! The first one I was just running around with my friends, and in the second one I'm alone and I'm getting rained on, and I'm abused by a teapot!”

Dan: “You really hurt yourself, too!”

Alison: “Oh I did, I fell quite hard, as well, in that scene.”

Dan: “Yeah, all that rain, and your heels and the cobblestones!”

Leaky: "I was wondering if that scene was all 'real' water!“

Alison: "Oh yeah, it was real rain – I was running quite fast, and there were two pair of shoes – one that had grips, and one that didn't. The pair that had grips were so soaking that I couldn't put them on, so I put on the other pair, ran and just fell completely flat on my suitcase! Lucky I fell on my suitcase, otherwise it would've been face-first, but it was quite a lot of — I felt like the tin man the next day, I could barely walk!”

Leaky: “Do you think he’s still pursuing Queenie, then? Does he fear her at all after this movie?“

Dan: “That last moment – at least in my head – that last moment of the first movie ends where [Jacob] turns around, and there she is, right? In this movie, he’s looking for her on the horizon, hoping she’s gonna come back. The door’s still wide open!”

Q: "So you understand [Queenie's] decision?”

Alison: "Yeah, I mean, I had to do a lot of work to understand the decision, and I had to ask a lot of questions, and David and Jo worked with me a lot behind the scenes on subtle levels – subtle things to just push her. That's what it is, she's just being pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and pushed – until she's pushed too far.

"So yes, I do. I do understand, given the state that she's in, given how unprotected she is. I just keep coming back to that. She's just not protected, and she's an empath. She has literally no armour at all. Especially with the gift that she has [of being a Legillimens], she needs people protecting her, who have her best interests at heart, and Jacob is not there, Tina is not there, and Newt was the one that 'outed' her, so it's like, where is that [protection]?

"She will have to develop that skill for herself, and I hope that she does over the next few films.”

Dan: "Then she'll be a force to be reckoned with! Oh boy!”

Alison: "Yes, yeah! You know, I really look forward to that, for her, if that is the road that she goes down. But yeah, I had to find it within myself to have compassion for her, and not be angry. But then again, I've had things happen to me in my life where I've made decisions, or pushed in a way where I think that I'm making a decision, but I'm not really making the decision, and that took me down a very rough road for some time. But now that I'm older I'm so grateful for those experiences. It dug a deep well within my soul and taught me to have compassion, to relate to other people — to relate to this woman. So, you know. You can't really begrudge someone their journey just because it gets messy.”

Q: "As a followup to that, it's really through Queenie that the audience maybe even begins to understand why people would follow the antagonist, and why good people might do bad things. What did you both want to show about the relationship prior to that? To make sure that we were on board, knowing that she was coming from a good place?”

Alison: "It's this 'You're crazy', 'You're a coward' thing. You can't call [Queenie] crazy, it hurts to her, and you can't call [Jacob] a coward — it's the same pain. They both did it to each other, and that skews you out of thinking in your normal rationale. It's a hard one to come back from when you're so triggered.

"So these two people who really love each other are not able to see straight, because their wound has been pressed, hard. I think that that really informed a lot of what happened after that. It happens twice – in two key moments.”

#fantastic beasts #crimes of grindelwald #coginterview #queenie goldstein #Jacob Kowalski #Jakweenie #Dan Fogler #alison sudol

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